Rivian sued over alleged misleading claims on self-driving features

The US-based electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian is facing a class-action lawsuit from several customers alleging that the company made misleading statements regarding the self-driving capabilities of its R1T pickup and R1S SUV.

As reported by Engadget on Thursday (18/6) local time, the plaintiffs contend that the first-generation R1T electric pickups and R1S SUVs do not possess the advanced self-driving features as promised by Rivian.

They allege that Rivian marketed these vehicles with claims that the first-generation models featured Level 3 autonomous systems, which would allow the vehicles to steer, accelerate, and brake without driver intervention under certain conditions.

However, the plaintiffs state that Rivian’s first-generation vehicles are not equipped with the adequate hardware required to realise such capabilities.

The plaintiffs further claim that no software updates can overcome these hardware limitations to enable the vehicles to achieve the previously promoted functionality.

According to the lawsuit, Rivian was aware from the outset that the first-generation vehicles would be unable to provide Level 3 self-driving or fully hands-free driving features, yet continued to promote these features to encourage consumer purchases.

This legal action follows Rivian’s introduction of a “universal hands-free driving” software update late last year, which enables hands-free driving capabilities.

This technology is available for the R2 electric vehicle line and the second generation of the R1 series, both of which are equipped with more advanced hardware and computing systems compared to the first-generation models.

To date, Rivian has not provided an official response regarding the lawsuit.